I have a huge interest in the spaces and places we inhabit on physical, psychological and emotional levels. It is this fascination with the decisions we make in constructing the space around us that has led to much of my current practice, from the placement of an object on a mantle piece in a home to the organisation of a shop window display. This work forms an exploration of the home as a site of experience, looking at absence and memory within the domestic environment.

These are images of interiors taken in homes experiencing a period of transition. The owners have moved on leaving behind traces of their lives. The images act as a record of human activity, they are evidence of human inhabitation, signs that we exist.DONALD LOKUTA

This series, In Plato’s Cave, is about a world of illusion and belief. The photographs were inspired by the Simile of the Cave in Plato’s Republic. It is obvious that the cave is a metaphor, and there are no bound prisoners - unable to see anything but a distorted reality of shadow figures on a cave wall. But many of us live in our own cave, accepting much that we hear or blindly believing the mass-media version of history and current news events. A reluctance to analyze and use our intelligence toward a quest for what is real will lead to a belief of what appears to be real for each of us.

What each one of us sees in that dark cave is determined by how critical our thinking is and our willingness and ability to use our intelligence to reason. In that text, Plato asks us to consider the possibility that or opinions and beliefs may be based on illusions formed with limited information. Without a curious mind and a willingness to reason, we may accept what we see and hear as truth, believing that the shadows on the wall are complete truth and what we believe will lead us to moral and correct decisions for ourselves and the common good. And in our life, we may be accepting illusions and beliefs as the ultimate truth. Without knowledge, analysis and critical thinking, our modern sources of information - including television, cinema, radio, newspapers and the Internet - may bring us no closer to the truth than shadow figures drawn on the cave wall.

MICKEY SMITH

Volume is an ongoing project documenting bound periodicals and professional journals in public libraries. Most of these publications are being replaced by their online counterparts, and in many cases the printed versions are no longer bound. Several titles photographed in the process of this project have been removed from the stacks due to space and budget constraints. Searching endless rows of these utilitarian texts, I am struck by the physical mass of knowledge and tenuousness of printed works as they fade from public consciousness.

The act of hunting for and photographing these objects is fundamental to my process. I do not touch, light, or manipulate the books and words - preferring to document them as found in the stacks, created by the librarian, and positioned by the last unknown reader.

The irony and graphic quality of repeating titles fascinate and draw, no matter how mundane, from known to obscure, from Vogue to Blood. I focus on simple, provocative titles that transcend the spines on which they appear.

GLENN GLASSER

Seldom do we think of our aging population as a surprise, innovative, contemporary, and much, much less as sexually active. All of our life we work and drive ourselves to a point where we can rest, relax, and create an environment to reflect. Elderly relatives with outposts in places like Florida or Arizona have always served as a staple and welcome refuge for visitation and companionship. But these communities are much more than the familiar stereotypes of early-bird dinners and sansabelt pants we know from brief visitations, from what we see cinematically or through sitcoms on television. Retirement is a manifestation of people’s dreams, an end all be all, a goal - a culmination; and even more than that, it is the American Dream.

Perhaps the most influential person in my life, my hero, is my grandfather Poppy. He is currently 95 years old, and happily married to my Grams for almost 68 years. They walk the streets in hand, exchange in healthy debate, and encourage each other to be better. Their relationship is my definition of all other definitions, and despite their age and physical limitations they demonstrate an inconceivable amount of youth. They are an instant smile, everlasting grace, and the very definitions of love and success. They treat others as they would like to be treated, listen with both ears, are always open to new ideas, laugh when appropriate, cry when necessary, and live each day to its fullest. They are ironic and unexpected joy, dispensing at will a lifetime of knowledge. They are my pedestal.

With reverence for traditional image-making methods as well as new techniques and technologies, hpgrp gallery will show intriguing contemporary works from around the world.